Tue Dec 30 14:50:00 UTC 2025: Here’s a news article summarizing the text:
White Male Novelists Still in the Running: Ben Markovits’ “The Rest of Our Lives” Examines Male Anxiety
New York, NY – Despite ongoing narratives of the decline of the white male novelist, the 2025 Booker Prize for Fiction featured three of them as finalists, including eventual winner David Szalay. Among the shortlisted works was Ben Markovits’s “The Rest of Our Lives,” a novel that delves into the anxieties of the modern white man.
The novel follows Tom, a 56-year-old white man navigating a sense of displacement in his marriage, career, and the broader cultural landscape. After dropping his daughter off at college, Tom embarks on a road trip, seeking connection with others who share his feelings of being left behind.
While the premise might seem politically charged, Markovits avoids overt references to current events, instead offering a subtle exploration of white male frustration. Tom, despite his privileged background, grapples with feelings of inadequacy and regret. His journey leads him to reconnect with figures from his past, including his estranged brother and a college basketball teammate, all of whom embody different facets of the “angry white male” archetype.
Reviewers note that “The Rest of Our Lives” avoids heavy-handed satire, opting for a measured and observant approach. While Tom may not undergo a profound transformation, the novel’s strength lies in its portrayal of an unsympathetic character grappling with mortality and the limitations of his own perspective. Markovits’ work offers a nuanced exploration of a demographic often dismissed or caricatured in contemporary discourse.
First Piper 